by Alfonz Juck
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It was insane,” said Brian Pintado after winning the 20km race walk. “In the last few meters, I realized I was completely alone, and seeing the finish line, I just kept thinking, ‘I’m the Olympic champion; it’s me.’ It has been tough to be away from my family, wife, and kids for four months and just seeing them through a screen,” he added. “But they were with me throughout the race. I have a picture of them with me. I also have a necklace of my son running beside me. I am wearing a scarf that my grandmother gave me. So, really, they were with me all this time.”
RESULT OF THE DAY
28-year-old Yang Jiayu won the 20km race walk title in 1:25:54 (43:06 / 42:48 ), the fastest non-Russian time this season. Since winning the World title in 2017, she has failed to finish in the top 10 three times at the global championships, but it was a different competition in Paris. She pulled away from the rest of the field after the 5th kilometer (4:14/km 6) and crossed the finish line after a solo race with a 25-second lead after a fast (4:07) last lap.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
Global champions and co-favorites for the Olympic race walking titles, Antonella Palmisano, Kimberly García, and Perseus Karlström, surprisingly soon, did not keep up with the pace and lost contact with the race’s top. 2022 double World champion García started to lose ground after the 11th km and finished 16th, 4:16 behind the winner. One km later, the defending champion Palmisano also began to fail and retired from the race, and the fresh European champion Karlström faded away after the 13th km and finished at 21 (-2:10).
MEDALS (5 countries)
CHN, ECU 1-0-0; ESP 0-1-1; BRA 0-1-0; AUS 0-0-1.
POINTS (12 countries)
ESP 15; ECU 11; CHN 8; BRA 7; AUS 6; COL, ITA 5.
TITLE DEFENDERS
No (2): Stano, Palmisano.
TOP MARKS
AR (1): 1 – Oceania.
AGENTS (individual gold medals)
Not known for walking winners.
STATS
20km W – women: Yang’s time is second fastest in OG; best marks for places 4-5-6; fourth gold for CHN (incl. 10kW), first place ahead of RUS; first Olympic points for ECU and PER.
20km W—men: The 1 sec. The difference between third and fourth is the lowest; it was also the second fastest at the Olympics, with the best marks for places 3-8. BRA won its first medal (silver) in 20kmW, and ETH earned its first Olympic points.
PARIS 2024 NEWS
PARIS (FRA): During the Paris 2024 Games, World Athletics will become the first international federation to award prize money to its Olympic champions, financially rewarding athletes for achieving the pinnacle of sporting success. Each gold medallist will receive US$50,000.
PARIS (FRA): Due to heavy rain in the early morning, the starting times of both race walks were moved by 30 minutes to 8.00 and 9.50. PARIS (FRA): 2022 world 1500m champion Jake Wightman has pulled out of the British team for Paris 2024 due to a recurring hamstring injury. He has been replaced by Elliot Giles in the 800m.
PARIS (FRA): World decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer has pulled out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Mayer tore a hamstring tendon while competing in a 110m hurdles in the Paris Diamond League last month and has failed to recover sufficiently.
PARIS (FRA): Rhasidat Adeleke appears set to focus on the individual 400m. Athletics Ireland will have to submit their possible six runners by Thursday evening, 24 hours before the mixed 4x400m relay heats start; it is understood at this point that Adeleke will be putting all her focus on the individual 400m for now. There is still every chance she will race the women’s 4x400m the following weekend if Ireland can qualify without her, from The Irish Times.
PARIS (FRA): American super-talent Quincy Wilson, 16, will not be part of the United States team in the mixed 4x400m heats.
PARIS (FRA): European champion Perseus Karlstrom informed SVT that a bout of coronavirus weakened him for the 20km race walk in Paris 2024. “I had such a perfect season, and I thought I could recover from illnesses,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): Jakob Ingebrigtsen has said it is “difficult” to see Josh Kerr as a rival due to the fact he “never participates in races,” informs NRK. “Seeing someone as a rival is difficult when they never participate in races. He will be known as the Brit who never competes. I want to run as much as possible in all competitions. I want to entertain and perform because this is what I love. I hope next time it will be even bigger and better. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): Djamel Sedjati has two aims coming into the Paris Olympics: to medal for Algeria after the country drew a blank in Tokyo three years ago and to break David Rudisha’s 800m world record. “I am now thinking of the world record; I hope to run it at the Olympic Games,” said the Algerian, “I will focus on that and put in the necessary work to achieve my goal.” From insidethegames.
PARIS (FRA): Alexander Doom admits he is still not entirely pain-free, having been managing an adductor injury this season, informs Sporza. Be. “Physically, I am okay, although some aches and pains still exist. I am not 100 percent pain-free,” he said. I’m still in the same shape as at the European Championships. My training times are the same. Do you think I can go even faster here? We’ll see. According to the organization, it’s a high-speed track.
I’m looking forward to it.” Doom will not compete in the heats of the mixed 4x400m, informs Sporza. Be. However, he will compete in Belgium qualifies for the final.
PARIS (FRA): Another strange situation in the women’s 100m, with Solomon Islands marathoner Sharon Firisua entered the 100m by the National Olympic Committee of the Solomon Islands. Firisua did not qualify for the women’s marathon in Paris, but the Solomon Islands were granted a place in the 100 m for “universality.” So, the NOC entered her instead of a sprinter without input from the country’s track & field federation. Firisua has never run the 100 m before.
PARIS (FRA): Switzerland’s Dany Brand cannot compete in the 400m hurdles in Paris 2024. Even though space has opened after an athlete in front of him on the Road to Paris pulled out, the system does not allow additional entries.
PARIS (FRA): Three national records have been established during the 20km race walk. Australian by Montag (1:26:25) and Colombian by Arenas (1:27:03) among women, while Wakuma clocked a men’s record for Ethiopia (1:19:31).
WA COUNCIL NEWS
PARIS (FRA): World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in his report: “2023 was a solid year for athletics, anchored by one of the best World Athletics Championships in history as well as strong one-day circuits and new market growth in road running. A first-rate World Athletics Championships has left our stakeholders and fans in no doubt that we are a sport that is punching its weight and on the move. Almost 2000 athletes from 195 countries and our Athletics Refugee Team members participated, with 46 countries winning medals and 71 countries making the top eight. No other sport has the global reach of athletics.”
PARIS (FRA): The Grant for Growth program, which funds member federations to implement projects to support the World Plan 2022-2030, received a 76% uplift in funds during the year. This was offset by a 15% decrease in competition spending due to staging three World Athletics Series events in 2023 as opposed to four in 2022. This resulted in total expenditure remaining broadly flat, year on year, at US$70m.
PARIS (FRA): Significant investment in competitions – notably the Continental Tour, which grew from 28 events to 229 over the four years – rose 136%. Grants for Member Federation and Area Association development and competition grew by 45% over the same period. The introduction of an additional US$1m in athlete prize money at the World Championships means World Athletics now distributes, together with their local organizing committees, about US$12m to athletes every two years. World Athletics also invested substantial funding into new data and research (US$1.8m), which increased expenses over the four years by 69% from US$41.7m in 2020 to US$70.6m at the end of 2023.
PARIS (FRA): The Safeguarding Task Force approved a proposal to make the completion of the safeguarding essentials course mandatory for safeguarding officers, Safeguarding Task Force Members, World Athletics staff, roles involved in the investigation or adjudication of safeguarding matters, Athletes’ Commission Members, Council Members, area presidents, and vetting panels.
PARIS (FRA): The next World Championships will be held in the Japanese capital from 13-21 September. All road events will be held during morning sessions, while all other finals will occur in evening sessions. There will be morning sessions across both weekends, plus Monday, 15 September – a bank holiday in Japan. The remaining weekdays will just have evening sessions. The championships will begin with the men’s and women’s 35km race walk, and the first day will end with the mixed 4x400m final. Both men’s and women’s 100m finals will be held on day two, while a packed final day of action features nine finals on the track, ending with the men’s 4x100m – a break from the traditional championship-ending 4x400m.
PARIS (FRA): As has been the case for recent global championships, the qualification system will be based on a combination of entry standards and world rankings. The entry standards have been set to qualify about 50% of the athletes. As was the case for the last World Championships, the top five finishers at Platinum Label marathons and winners of individual events at area championships (except for the marathon), regardless of marks, will be considered as having achieved the entry standard. There has been a reduction in the number of athletes qualifying for the 10,000m via the Cross Country Tour. Previously, the top eight athletes in the Cross Country Tour – not qualified through entry standards or other ways – were deemed qualified for the 10,000m. This number has now been reduced to the top three athletes.
